Following a Ghost's footsteps
by Gaius Vergilius Severus
Summary: Sequel to Love Lies Dying. It is Universal Century 0102, A young woman with little knowledge of her past, joins the Federation to help get her life straightend out, but what she finds is her past.


Universal Century 0084

It was a misty morning, Anastasia Romanova took a deep breath of the morning air as she stepped out of her car. In her hand was a bouquet of black roses, _hmm it's a little chilly,_ she thought as she pulled the Federal Forces jacket she wore tighter around her. The jacket was a size too large but it was her favorite jacket, it had belonged to her lover. She walked though the mist, lost in her thoughts, she didn't even seem to notice the other tombstones as she walked on instinct thought the cemetery. She reached a section of the cemetery set aside specially for Federal soldiers who where killed in battle. She continued her along her path until she reached a particular headstone, she tenderly laid the flowers down, her eyes closed, her mind drifting though her memories, remembering intimate moments, and the face of a man who loved her. Eyes still closed, she gently placed her hand on the top of the tombstone, then she opened her eyes and looked at the engraving on the face. On the side was a relief of an RX-79-2G Ground Gundam Kai in a military salute. The words read:

_On this grave lies_

_Lieutenant Virgil Fallynna_

_UC 0059 - 0083_

_He fought and gave his live only for his beliefs _

_and those he loved_

_He was a model mobile suit pilot to the end_

Anastasia looked upon the grave of her slain lover. He was killed in Operation Stardust, he gave his life to protect her. "Virgil I'm here again. There's something I need to tell you. I know you're still protecting me, but there is someone else this world who needs your protection too." Anastasia took a photograph out of her pocket and kneeled down, she placed the photograph next to the flowers. It was of a baby girl. "She's my daughter, she's your daughter. I never got up the nerve to tell you, I had to put her up for adoption, but, you're a father. Her name is Sezja, Sezja Fallynna. I still see her once in a while and her adopted parents write to me about her. We conceived her the night you graduated from the Academy. I wish I didn't have to put her up for adoption and I wish she could have met her father. I wish she could know what a great man her father was. Please, Virgil, look after our daughter."

xxx

UC 0102

Twenty year old Cadet Sezja Fallynna looked out the window at the Re-GZ she was assigned for training. She had entered the Earth Federation's Mobile Suit Academy when she was eighteen and she had ranked high enough to be assigned to the Salamis Kai-class _Osaka_ for space training. She gazed up at the suit and lost herself in her thoughts. Ever since her mother, her birth mother was killed in an accident while she was a young child she had always been bothered about her past. She never learned who her father was. She had joined the Federal Forces for two reasons, she always loved mobile suits and she hoped that a few years in the Federal Forces would give some direction in her life. Her adopted parents had supported her decision.

She had asked if they knew anything about her father, they had told her that her mother never spoke to them about him. That her mother wanted to tell her about him when she was old enough but she had died in an accident before she could tell her.

"Sezja…"

Sezja snapped out of her daydreaming and looked to her right to find Cadet Richter Athha walk up to her and lean across the railing next to her. They had met in the Academy and became fast friends.

"You look like something's bothering you…"

"Hmm? Don't worry about it, I was just thinking a little about myself…" She answered lightly.

"Well, I hope you're ready for this, this is our last training mission we'd better do it right." Richter replied. Sezja nodded an agreement.

xxx

She went though her routine checks and all the systems of her Re-GZ, and all systems reported green. The Re-GZ (Refined Gundam Zeta) was a simplified version of the AEUG's Zeta Gundam intended for mass production, however this high performance suit was still fairly expensive and only went into limited production. It was assigned only to the elite squadrons and skilled cadets. It was her turn to load her suit onto the catapult, so she maneuvered her suit in the hanger onto the elevator that would lift her to the catapult. The elevator lifted her up to the deck of the _Osaka_. The _Osaka_ was an old Salamis Kai-class cruiser, the original Salamis-class cruisers were in service even before the One Year War in 0079. However the Salamis Kai was still a versatile design, she had respectable firepower and carried four mobile suits. Though in the _Osaka's_ case, she was modified with an extended bow to carry six mobile suits. The _Osaka_ also featured more firepower and more powerful engines than a standard Salamis Kai, she was one of the heavily upgraded ships that survived Zeon's nuclear attack on Konpei Island asteroid base in 0083.

"Cadet Fallynna, unit three ready for launch." As she said that a row of four lights appeared in the corner of her main monitor. The lights flashed down and the last light was green and she felt herself slammed into her seat by the G forces as her suit was hurled into space. This was her last training mission and would decide if she would be assigned to a space squadron and keep her Re-GZ. Her mission was to destroy a base being used by terrorists. A group of terrorists were using stolen mobile suits to terrorize the nearby space lanes. The mission of her mobile suit squad was to infiltrate their asteroid base and plant a bomb that would destroy the facility.

Of course in reality the mobile suits piloted by the "terrorists" were really piloted by their instructors _Instructor Zarah is going to be a real obstacle…_ Sezja thought. Instructor Hans Zarah was the senior instructor, he was a member of the Londo Bell taskforce and an excellent pilot. Though most of the suits were piloted by other cadets. The bomb, which was with squad leader Cadet Emeralda Castile, and Canard Farrell in units 01 and 02, was just a dummy bomb that wouldn't explode. They had no clue what units the "terrorists" would be using but it was her and Richter in units 03 and 04, to clear the way.

"Fallynna, Athha, you two switch to waverider mode and go on head. Give us a heads up if you come across any sensors." Emeralda ordered.

"Roger" Sezja complied as she changed her suit into it's fighter-like waverider mode, and shot off.

There was a considerable amount of debris around the asteroid, there was wreckage from Zeon and Federation ships and mobile suits, as well as various bits of space junk. She set her sensors to scan the widest possible area. "Anything on your screens Richter?"

"Negative, nothing at all…" He responded sounding a bit bored. "Wait… I've got a pair of Doven Wolf units incoming."

Sezja looked up at her scopes and there were indeed a pair of those mobile suits moving in to intercept them. "Ok Richter, you take the one on the left." Sezja ordered as she shot ahead. The Doven Wolf was a very capable mobile suit but it was still inferior to the Re-GZ. She fired a burst from the beam cannon and her sensors told her the Doven Wolf had lost the use of it's right leg. They didn't use live ammunition, only special targeting lasers. The suits were fitted with various sensors around it's body, they would detect and hit from the targeting laser and alter the suit's performance accordingly. A hit to a limb would disable that particular limb, a hit to the head would disable the main cameras and sensors. And a hit to the body would disable all systems except for life support and it would trigger the SOS beacon. Their beam sabers were likewise altered.

Sezja switched her Re-GZ back to mobile suit mode and spun around. The Wolf had like wise spun around and was sending shots of targeting laser her way, she jumped up and towards the Wolf in a sort of lose somersault maneuver. This brought her above the Wolf facing down at the top of the suit, she brought up her beam rifle and riddled the Wolf. On her monitors she saw various lights flashing on the Wolf indicating several hits and her computer was reporting critical system failures on the enemy suit.

"Richter how are you doing over there?"

"Well I was able to take him out, be he took out my left arm…"

"Lead, how are you doing back there?" Sezja asked, scanning the area at the same time.

"We're still good. Richter will you still be alright?" Emeralda replied.

"I'll be fine, Lead, Sezja and I will go ahead and secure an entrance into the facility."

"Copy that, be careful you two."

Sezja and Richter had both switched back into waverider mode and blasted off ahead. As they flew though the debris the asteroid was starting to look more clear. There was an empty ship dock they could use to go inside, though Sezja knew better than to just walk right in through there.

"So how do you think we should go about doing this?" Richter asked.

"Wait, let me think…" _hmm, we can't just walk in, they'd cut us to shreds… wait a minute, the debris… _"Hey I've got an idea, you see that cargo container over there?" Sezja said as she pointed to a wreaked cargo ship with her suit. "We could float that thing into the hangar, and use it to hide and take cover inside of. What do you think?"

Richter looked over the cargo container for a moment and thought about it for a little while. "Well I suppose it could work…"

"Lead, Sezja here. Richter and I are going to penetrate the facility though the dock, we're going to go in with a cargo container. I'll fire off a flare to signal that it's all clear."

"Roger that, good luck."

Sezja and Richter had maneuvered themselves to the cargo container, it was large container and could easily hold three mobile suits, and it's walls were fairly thick. They had grabbed on and pushed the container to the direction of the dock, while the container was drifting in they got in and hid inside while it drifted in.

The container drifted into the dock and Sezja switched over to thermal imaging, _Hmm, two mobile suits, signature looks like Jegans…_

"Jegans?" Richter asked

"Yeah, looks like it, they're heading over here, wait till my signal before you open fire." Sezja ordered. She let the Jegans move in a little closer, she found a crack in the container and put the muzzle of her rifle in the crack. She used the gun camera to aim her rifle targeting one of the Jegans. _Hmm you're mine…_

But as she was about to pull the trigger one of the Jegans pushed the other one out of the way and brought it's rifle up.

_What the fuck!_ "Richter, open fire!" Sezja shouted. Richter moved to the doors of the container and took cover behind one of the doors. Sezja changed her suit back to waverider mode and shot out of the container. One of the units was distracted by her departure and Richter had shot it's right arm, the other Jegan, the same one that pushed it before, pushed it out of Richter's field of fire and took it's own evasive action. _Hmm one of them is definitely a cadet and the other has to be an instructor. _She rolled her unit to 90 degrees to the left and pulled up. This put her in an arc that would bring her around to the Jegans. With a boost of speed she shot towards the damaged Jeagan and switch to mobile suit mode. The Jegan spun around only to find Sezja's beam saber wielding Re-GZ positioned to bury the saber into it's cockpit.

Richter moved out of his cover and fired a three shot burst at the other Jegan, behind the Jegan he was engaging he saw Sezja's unit put it's beam saber through the cockpit of the other Jegan. _Damn that girl is ruthless… heh heh I wonder what she's like in bed…_ The Jegan was firing back and took evasive action, his left arm wasn't working so he couldn't block, he could only dodge. He fired back and the Jegan easily dodged his fire. _Damn this guy is definitely an instructor…_ "Sezja, I could use some help here!"

"Richter, dodge left on my mark!"

"Wha…?"

"MARK!"

Richter dodged to the left as ordered and a targeting laser lanced though where he was less than a second ago, and hit the Jegan square in the chest.

"Thanks for the save Lead…" He sighed.

"Hey no problem. Sezja, lets go and get this bomb planted." Emeralda said.

They proceeded to the core of the facility though a series of MS sized maintenance conduits, when out of nowhere a targeting laser struck Richter's unit in the head. _Shit, where the fuck did that one come from! _Sezja thought. She switched over to thermal imaging and saw a red blur dash across her monitor. _That has got to be Instructor Zarah… _"Lead, we've got a high threat unit here, I suggest you three go and set the bomb, and I'll take care of this guy."

"Ok but I want Canard to go with you and cover you're back." Emeralda responded.

Sezja and Canard headed off back towards the dock while the Emeralda and Richter headed back down the conduit towards the reactor core. "Canard, I want you to hang back here and make sure no one goes down this conduit, This is the only way to the core, I'll go and engage Instruc… the enemy suit."

"Got it. Good luck Sezja."

"Heh, heh, I'll be alright." Sezja said as she made a gesture like she was roguishly brushing a lock of hair from her face. She moved out and switched back to thermal imaging, _alright instructor, where are you hiding… _She moved forward down the conduit when she saw a red blur dashing down another conduit to her right towards the dock, _So the instructor knows the sexy Sezja is after him eh, well what kind of unit did you decide to bring to the party…_ She arrived in the dock to find no sign of the enemy suit, when out of nowhere she felt her suit pushed violently forward, as if another suit had kicked it from behind.

"Came here by yourself did you? Cadet Fallynna." Instructor Zarah taunted.

"Goddamnit!" Sezja shouted as she turned to face her opponent. _Well this going to be a bit tough…_ Instructor Zarah had chosen to use a GM III in this mission. The GM III was faster and more heavily armed than the Jegan suits. Sezja brought up her beam rifle, but before she could bring it to bear, Zarah was a fraction of a second ahead of her and shot the rifle. _Shit now my rifle won't work…_

"How about we settle this in the classical manner." Zarah said as he tossed his beam rifle in front of him and in a smooth motion drew one of the beam sabers stored in a recharge rack behind a shoulder and sliced into the rifle, rendering it in operative.

_OK instructor, you want to play like that, ok…_ Sezja thought as she drew her beam saber. The two then began dueling and neither had a clear advantage. Zarah sliced and disabled Sezja's left arm, while she disabled his left leg. The two continued to cross blades when she received a transmission, "Sezja, we set the bomb and the counter's going, move out."

"Lead, there's an enemy ace in the dock I'll cover your escape." Sezja replied.

"Roger that, but once we're all away, you get out of here too, don't try to be a hero." Emeralda responded.

Out of the corner of her eye Sezja could see three waveriders coming through the conduit at high speed. _No way I'm letting you near them Instructor_… Sezja thought as she continued to engage Zarah's unit. The two continued to cross swords and Sezja damaged Zarah's other leg.

"What the fuck are you waiting for Sezja the timers counting down!"

"Roger Lead, I'm on my way out…" _Sorry Instructor but if I want to pass I can't refuse a direct order… _Sezja rammed Zarah's unit with her shoulder and switched to waverider mode and shot out of the asteroid like a homesick angel, as the simulated explosion consumed the asteroid and Zarah's GM III.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Sezja shouted as she barrel rolled her Re-GZ and flew off to join the rest of the squad.

xxx

Sezja popped the hatch of her Re-GZ and floated out of the cockpit. _Man I'm boiling to death in this suit…_ she thought as she flung off her helmet and unzipped her pilot's suit to halfway down her belly exposing her cleavage. She floated out to meet the rest of the squad and congratulate each other. She was congratulating the other members when Richter took her aside. "Hey you were great today." He said trying to avoid looking at her breasts. "Hey lets head to my quarters for a little." He said with a smile.

"Your quarters…hmmm…now?" Sezja asked, feeling herself blush a little when she realized her was eyeing her breasts.

"No after the debriefing?" He replied with a sly smile

"Hmmm, so you could do your own debrefing on me?" She replied with sly smile of her own. "Ok"

Sezja and Richter walked to his quarters discussing the details of the mission. The mission was a total success, objective achieved with no losses. The had reached Richter's quarters and as soon as they had entered he began to rub her shoulders.

"Mmmm, that feels good…" Sezja said. She didn't seem to mind either when one of his hands slid down to unzip her suit all the way down. He went to rub her shoulders some more then he slid her suit down her shoulders bearing her breasts. Sezja laid her hands on his and guided them to her breasts.

"Hmm, you have you nipples pierced? Sexy…" He said as he rubbed the tips of her nipples.

Sezja lightly laughed, "that's not all I have pierced…" she said as she lead him to the bed.

Sezja and the other cadets from various other squads were lined up on the _Osaka's _mobile suit deck. Sezja was so pumped she could barely contain herself, not only did she have a fun night last night, but she was also getting her mobile suit pilot's wings.

"Well cadets, you've proven yourselves to be at the top of your class. You've proved that you can handle a high performance unit and are fully capable of carrying out difficult missions. All of you now have a Lieutenant's commission and are assigned to be assigned to one of the numerous elite squadrons." Instructor Zarah announced. He then stepped forward followed by and aid carrying a tray with the wings and rank insignias. He stepped up to each cadet and pinned the wings and insignias. "Now wear this wings and insignias with pride." He said and saluted.

"So where did you guys get assigned to?" Emeralda asked making herself just a little bit more comfortable in the _Osaka's _crew lounge.

"I'm with the Mobius Squadron aboard the _Washington_." Canard answered.

"Razgriz Squadron, on the _Churchill." _Richter answered, taking a sip from his spiced cider.

"I got assigned to the Foxhound Squadron on the _Illustrious_." Sezja said taking a sip from her wine cooler. "Well, where did our squad lead end up at?"

"I got assigned to the Foxhound Squadron on the ." Sezja said taking a sip from her wine cooler. "Well, where did our squad lead end up at?" 

"Black Fenris over on the _Zukov_. You know, I'm actually going to miss you guys. It's a shame we all have to go our ways tomorrow." Emeralda answered.

Tomorrow the _Osaka_ was to dock at Von Braun City, where the newly minted lieutenants would disembark and take a shuttle to their respective ships of assignment. The four of them continued to just back and talk at the crew lounge and just enjoy the company of their squad mates before they had to transeffer to various parts of the Earth Sphere.

Sezja looked around her quarters one last time and looked down at her orders. The had the Foxhound emblem on them and she couldn't quite put her finger on it but there was definitely a special meaning with that emblem. _What is it about this emblem, there's definitely something about it, something more than just being familiar…Mom I wish you were here, do you know what this emblem is?_ She took a deep breath and turned and walked out her quarters of the last time.

Sezja was the last to arrive at the hangar, the rest of the squad was there and the shuttle to Von Braun City was getting prepared to leave. She picked up her pace and jogged the rest of the way to the shuttle.

"Hey you're lagging Sezja." Emeralda called as she was waiting her turn to board the shuttle.

"Yeah, I had my mind on some things. Hey what can you tell me about the Foxhound Squadron?" Sezja asked as the boarded the shuttle and she took a seat next to Emeralda.

"Ehh, I know they started out as a ground based squad during the One Year War and then they were transferred to the Space Force during the Gryps War. They've always had a good performance level and a couple aces were from Foxhound. That's pretty much all I can tell you. Why?"

"Hmm, there's just something about the Foxhound emblem, it's like, I know this emblem and I know there's something special tied to it, but I just can't quite put my finger on it…" Sezja explained.

The shuttle lifted off without much trouble, and Sezja looked out the window to see Von Braun City. The sight of the lunar city always took her breath away. It was a massive metropolitan area encased in a dome. The city was built in the Sea of Tranquility and around the city were various facilities such as the space port and the power plant. They landed without incident and at the terminal hub they all said their good byes. They began to each go their separate ways when Richter turned to say something. "Hey, the other night was great, we should do it again sometime." he said with a smile.

"Hmm, maybe." Sezja smiled. Richter gave her a mock salute end went on his way. Sezja turned around to check the listings to find out when her shuttle was departing and from what gate. She reached one of the monitors and just felt irritation well up within her _Oh Goddamnit… _The _Illustrious_ had suffered some engine difficulties and was at Side 4 undergoing engine repairs. The ship wouldn't arrive until tomorrow evening. _Great now I'm stuck here…_

"Damnit, just my luck…" Sezja heard someone behind her sigh. She turned around to find a fairly handsome Federation officer looking at the same monitor she was. "You assigned to the _Illustrious_ too?" she asked.

"Yeah, Lieutenant Dante La Fllaga, I'm new flight controller for the _Illustrious." _He said holding out his hand.

"Lieutenant Sezja Fallynna, I just got assigned to the Foxhound squad." She replied shaking his hand.

"Well it's good to meet you, I'm sure we'll see more of each other. Though right now I suggest we should try to get ourselves some hotel rooms." he replied.

"Yeah that's a good idea, well I'll see you around then." Sezja smiled and said.

"Hey wait…" Dante said as Sezja turned around.

"Hmm?"

"You want to grab dinner later on, if we're going to be on the same ship we may as well get acquainted." Dante offered.

"Ok, but where at and when?"

"Well how about at we meet at the statue of Werner Von Braun in front of City Hall at 6:30 local time?"

"Well that sounds good to me, see you then Lieutenant La Fllaga." Sezja said and smiled as she headed off.

It didn't take her too long to find a hotel, she decided she could probably get away with putting it on the Federation's tab, after all it was their fault she was stuck there _Not like the bureaucrats don't do the same thing anyway…_ So she got herself a rather nice suite, she took off her shoes and plopped herself down on her bed. _Hmm this is the first time I've ever been to Von Braun…_ Sezja lied there for a few moments before she decided to have a look around the city before she had to meet Dante. She got up and took her toiletries from her bag and hopped in the bath. The bathroom was quite fancy, with a nice large tub and an adjustable light. Once she got out she flung her towel on to the bed and started rummaging though her bag, she pulled out some underwear, a pair of black knee-high boots, black fishnet stockings, a sort of jumpsuit that had a miniskirt instead of pant legs and short sleeves, and a black leather bondage collar. She was about to get dressed when out of the corner of her eye she saw herself in the mirror.

It was a full sized mirror, she walked to the mirror to take a look at nude self. As she stood in the mirror she couldn't hope but admire herself, she had a nice cut figure, long slender legs, and nice full breasts with pierced nipples. She struck a few poses and smiled at herself, and got back to getting dressed. She got dressed and tied her hair with a red ribbon, in her civilian clothes she was the last person one would expect to be in the Federal Forces. Her skirt went down to her knees and she strapped a small holster to her upper thigh and holstered her small .38 caliber pistol. Ever since she was almost raped a few years ago she had made it a habit to carry a gun with her. Sezja was a girl who like to look good and to stand out a little, hence her flashy black outfit. She looked at her watch, it was 1:30pm local time.

On her way out of the lobby she grabbed a tourist map and hit the streets. Von Braun was a bustling metropolis, she made her way downtown, and decided to do a little window shopping. While she was grousing she came across a small yet well stocked hobby shop, she decided to go check it. The shop was run by a pleasant old Asian man, she had picked up two kits, an Re-GZ she intended to customize into her own unit, and an RX-79-2G Ground Gundam Kai, both 1/100 scale. She couldn't explain it, but she was just drawn to that particular suit. She had also brought some paints and brushes and she went on her way. She stopped by various other stores, she stopped by a bath and body shop and picked up some soap and oils. As she walked though downtown and lingerie shop caught her attention and she bought herself a new set of lingerie and some satin sleepwear.

It was 3:45 and she was starting to get hungry, she passed a trendy looking café and decided to get a sandwich and an iced mocha. _Hmm maybe this delay isn't such as bad thing after all…_ she thought. Sezja was enjoying her time in Von Braun. She finished her meal and looked at her watch, it was 4:30. She decided to head back to her hotel and relax a little before dinner.

She was sitting on her bed leaning against a pile of pillows looking at the tourist map. It looked like it would take her about fifteen or so minutes to walk to City Hall. _Hmm, I think I'll take a quick nap…_

_Beep, Beep…Beep, Beep. _

She awoke to the alarm of her cell phone and crawled out of bed. She put her boots back on, fixed up her hair and put on a black red trimmed peacoat. She made her way to the business district and to City Hall, it didn't take her too long to find the statue of Werner Von Braun, in front of it was a bench with Dante sitting on it smoking a small cigar. "Lieutenant." Sezja called, as she waved.

"Hey" he said as he looked up.

"So where we going to eat tonight?" Sezja asked.

"Well, first just call me Dante when we're off duty." he said lightly "I grew up here and I know there's a couple nice places around here. You up for some place a bit pricey?"

"Hmm, I kind of spent a lot already, how about some place a little bit cheaper."

"Ok, I know a place."

Dante took her to fairly nice restaurant. It was just on the edge of the business district, near the Anaheim Electronics building and the Earth Federation government buildings. Sezja had ordered babyback ribs while Dante had ordered a veal and pasta dish. They chatted about their previous assignments, about where they were from and the like. Like Sezja, Dante had just finished his training. He told Sezja about the _Illustrious_ and what they would be doing. The _Illustrious _was a Ra Calium-class battleship and flagship of the 7th Independent Task Group. The task group consisted of the _Illustrious_, two Clop-class cruisers and three Salamis Kai-class cruisers. The group's mission was to eliminate a band of pirates that had been harassing the outer space lanes.

For dessert Sezja had ordered a couple cream puffs and a strawberry daiquiri, while Dante had simply ordered a margarita. They had finished their meals and Dante walked Sezja back to her hotel before heading back to his hotel near the space port. Sezja decided it would be awhile before she would have access to another bathtub, so she grabbed some of the stuff she bought from the bath and body store and took advantage. She let herself soak in the hot tub for a good hour before she went to bed in her new sleepwear.

xxx

Sezja found herself amidst a ruined city, a battle had spilled over to this city. She had heard people shouting and sporadic gunfire. Her survival instincts were starting to kick in and she took off down an alley, she noticed there was an intersection in the alley in front of her. As she got near the intersection she saw a young woman run across, _wait… Mom!_ She ran down the alley to follow the figure, she got to the intersection only to find what the woman was running from, a squad of soldiers in Zeon uniforms. _OH SHIT! _But before Sezja could react the soldiers didn't seem to notice her and just ran after the woman. _What is going on here, is this the One Year War?_ She took off after the young woman and unlike the Zeon soldiers she was able to keep up with her. "Wait! Hey, slow down, is that you, Anastasia?" But the woman kept running, she didn't seem to hear her. Sezja followed her to a clearing and saw a Zaku II aiming it's machine gun at her, but before Sezja could push the woman away, she saw a beam rifle blast take the Zaku's head off, followed by a second blast that burned it's way into the cockpit and incinerated the pilot. The beam had came from a Ground Gundam Kai, on one shoulder it had the Foxhound emblem and the other had the numbers 03.

Sezja finally got a good look at the young woman and her heart jumped. "Mom!" Though Sezja all Sezja could remember about her mother's appearance was from photographs, she knew it's was Anastasiait was her mother. She ran to her mother and embraced her, but she got no reaction from her mother. "Mom, it's me Sezja." She looked at her mother's face and noticed she was looking off some where. She looked to the direction her mother was looking and saw the Ground Gundam Kai fighting multiple opponents. After the Gundam had dispatched several Zeon suits single handedly a Zaku II had taken the Gundam down in it's death throws but burying it's heat tomahawk into the Gundam's main body. Her mother took off towards the fallen Gundam, and Sezja took off after her but she tripped and fell, before she could get up a chunk of rubble fell on her leg pinning her to the ground. _FUCK… weird I don't feel pain…_ "Mom please, don't leave me again!" Sezja shouted as she looked up. She saw her mother reach the Gundam, but a strange thing happened, her mother disappeared and the Gundam stood up, but as it stood up it morphed into an Re-GZ.

"WAKE UP SEZJA" yelled an unfamiliar yet somehow comforting male voice.

Sezja snapped awake, _Ok that was the weirdest fucking dream I've ever had…_ She looked over at the clock and hopped out of bed and took a shower.

xxx

Sezja was looking out the window from her seat in the shuttle and saw her first glimpse of the _Illustrious_, the battleship was in formation with the rest of her task group. Several of the ships were in the process of deploying their mobile suits, she saw several Jegans deploying from the two Clop-class cruisers.

"So that's out new home…" Sezja said to Dante who was sitting next to her.

They disembarked from the shuttle with five others who were assigned to the _Illustrious_, and the ship's captain was there to greet them. "Welcome aboard the Federation battleship _Illustrious_ I am Captain Ridley Selkis, I look forward to having you under my command." He said as he saluted. The seven on them returned the salute and went on their way.

She then reported to Commander Lloyd Carraway, the Foxhound commander. "I've read your files Lieutenant, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed, your instructors have said you're quite and exceptional pilot."

"Thank you sir."

"Well go on ahead and meet the rest of the squad, get to know everyone. Your Re-GZ has already been loaded on the ship."

Sezja saluted and after Commander Carraway returned the salute she went on her way.

xxx

It had been almost three months now since Sezja had been assigned to the _Illustrious_. She and Dante had grown close these past three months, while this sort of thing was usually frowned upon, for the most part everyone just turned a blind eye to it. While things were begging to get physical she was still unsure what direction things were going to go. She certainly wouldn't mind at all to be going out with him, but he was proving to be fairly indecisive.

Sezja and Dante had been relaxing in her quarters, Sezja at her computer while Dante was sitting on her bed.

"Ahh, I'm getting a tired." Sezja said stretching in her chair.

Dante stood up and gently pulled Sezja up out of her chair and lead her to the bed. "Here I've got an idea." he said as he opened her uniform shirt and pulled it off.

"Ok what are you planning…?" Sezja demurely asked.

"Just relax." He said as he continued under dressing her as he unzipped her skirt and slid it down. "Ok, now lie on your stomach."

Sezja did as he instructed and she felt him unhook her bra, she heard and felt him lean over to her night stand and squirt some lotion into his hands. Then she felt his hands on her shoulders as he massaged her. "Ooooohhhh, that feels so good." He continued to massage her, rubbing her back her neck, her shoulders, her legs. After a while Sezja rolled onto her back and wrapped her arms around Dante. "I love you." She said before she put her lips to his, and the two lost themselves in each other.

Dante awoke the next morning to find Sezja had wrapped herself around him, _you look like an angel Sez all you need is your wings…_ He gently ran his fingers through her hair and thought about his feelings for her. He loved her, but at the same time he was scared of her, not scared of Sezja her self, but scared of what she wanted. He knew Sezja wanted a serious relationship, and he wanted one too, he loved her very much, but he was still unsure. When it came down to it he was scared to commitment, he was only nineteen and really still just a kid in a lot of ways. Part of him was willing to go all the way with her, but there was a part that was hesitant. He wasn't a player, just unsure.

Sezja awoke to find herself wraped around Dante. "Morning Sez…" he said and she leaned forward and nibbled on his neck before resting her head on his arm. "Morning…" she said, with a content smile. Sezja wraped her arm around him and was gently running her fingers up and down his back. "Hmm, just let me lie here with you for awhile…"

"Sure…"

"Do you love me…?" Sezja asked.

"I love you very much Sez." Dante replied and Sezja took his hand, brough it to her lips and kissed his fingers. "I'm glad." she said.

xxx

Sezja was looking up at her Re-GZ, she had, had five combat missions with the squad since her assignment. For the most part there really wasn't much to do, it was mostly investigating leads and stopping at various colonies and bases to resupply. She had become quite popular with the squadron and she was getting along quite well with everyone. But despite everything here, her past was still nagging at her, every time she looked at the Foxhound emblem emblazoned on the shoulder of her Re-GZ, she kept having that feeling.

"Sezja…"

Sezja looked to her right and saw the executive officer, Commander Tatianna Ramius was walking towards her. Tatianna, who was 6 years older, had taken Sezja under her wing and had become a sort of older sister figure to Sezja. "You look like you've got something heavy on your mind. .."

"Yeah… I'm just getting a little frustrated with Dante. I'm not sure what he wants… Then I've had that dream again." Sezja responded, a little fatigued.

"Hmm how old are you two again?"

"I'm twenty and he's nineteen…"

"Well I'm guessing he loves you but he's unsure about committing right now. You're certainly pretty mature for your age with all you've been though, you know what you want, and well, he's still figuring that out. As for that dream, well I really don't know what to say. All I can tell you about that is that there's probably something gnawing at you in the back of your mind."

"Yeah there's definitely something bothering me, I think it has something to do with this squad and my mother."

"That's something I really can't help you with, but with Dante, let him go for now, if you two are supposed to be with each other, he'll come to you."

"Yeah I guess you're right. Hey I never asked, how long have you been in Foxhound and what can you tell me about this squad during the One Year War?" Sezja asked.

"Well, hmm, let me think… Back during the One Year War this squad was started as a Ground Gundam squad in North America. Then during the Gryps war, then the squad was transferred to space. And well here we are. I've been in the squad for about two years now. Come on, let's go to the lounge and get something to drink."

"Alright" Sezja agreed.

xxx

The 7th Independent Task Group had docked at a small asteroid the Federation had converted into a re-supply depot at the edge of the Earth Sphere. The entire fleet had docked and was loading supplies. Guarding the supply base were three Salamis Kai-class cruisers. Usually a supply base would have more ships defending it, but this one was smaller base out in the fringes, the Federation usually didn't care all that much about out in the way bases like that. In fact the base commander there was only a captain. The Federation was growing more and more corrupt and arrogant and it certainly showed at this base, in fact this base often hosted several black market bazaars.

Sezja and the other members of Foxhound were at the _Illustrious's _crew lounge. While Richter, as a member of the bridge crew, had to stay on the bridge. Since he was the mobile suit coordinator, he really didn't have anything to do, so he simply kept busy at his station with a hand-held video game.

_Beep Beep… Beep Beep._

"Eh…?" Richter looked at his monitor and his eyes widened "Shit! Captain, we've got two Zanzibar-classes and a Musai-class!" The three ships, like the Salamis were One Year War era battleships. They were pretty old and certainly no match for the _Illustrious_ and the two Clop-class cruisers of the fleet, however they wouldn't have too much trouble with the Salamis Kais.

"Damn pirates… Launch mobile suits, I want the _Illustrious, Anubis, _and_ Horace, _mobilized and engage the enemy as soon as all systems are on line. The _California, San Francisco, _and _Groznygrad_ are to support the base's defense." Captain Selkis commanded.

Sezja was taking a sip from her Long Island Iced Tea when she heard the alert going off. _Glad I'm off duty…_

THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THIS FLEET IS UNDER ATTACK BY PIRATES ALL MOBILE SUIT PILOTS ARE TO LAUNCH IMMIDIATELY

"Dammit!" Sezja said as she almost slammed the drink on the table. _Hmm it's a long shot… _"Commander can I stay here, I 'dink I dwank too mush…" She slurred.

"Bullshit Fallynna, I know you can handle a lot more than just a few Long Island sips, now you heard the order, let's go." Commander Carraway, said with a slight smile.

Sezja strapped herself into her Re-GZ and brought up the mobile suit's systems, after a brief moment her computer reported all green. She followed Tatianna's Re-GZ to the catapult and after she launched Sezja loaded herself onto the catapult. "Lieutenant Fallynna Foxhound Zero Three launching." Before the catapult shot her into space Dante's face appeared in the corner of her monitor. "_Illustrious _here, roger. Be careful Sez." Sezja responded with a smile and a motion her brushing an imaginary lock of her hair from her face, and the catapult flung her into space.

She fell into formation with the other three members of Foxhound, and scanned her monitors. _Damn not good…_ The task force carried a total of twenty eight mobile suits. The _Illustrious _carried four Re-GZ units, and four GM III units, while the other ships carried four Jegans each. However the three Salamis Kais assigned to the base and the base itself only had GM Kais, which dated back to 0083. The pirates on the other hand, she had no idea where they got their equipment but they were fairly well equipped _Probably hijacked an MS transport…_ The pirates were using Sturm Dias and Geara Doga units. The Jegans would be able to handle the Sturm Dias units though the Geara Dogas, if piloted by capable hands would give even the Re-GZs and GM IIIs a tough time. While the Task Group had twenty eight suits about half would stay behind to protect the ships. So that was fourteen of the task group's mobile suits against sixteen of the pirate's suits. She didn't even bother factoring in the GM Kais _Those outdated suits don't even stand a chance… _

"Ok listen up Foxhound, here's the plan you guys take care of the Geara Dogas, the Tiamat squadron will back you up, after the you guys take down the Geara Dogas, target their capital ships. The Jegans will deal with the Sturm Diases." Dante briefed them.

"Ok we'll split up into pairs Sezja you go with Tatianna, Geddoh, you come with me. Take care of lets take care of those Dogas." Lloyd ordered.

Sezja and Tatianna both switched over to waverider mode and shot ahead while Lloyd and Geddoh pealed off on their own. The Dogas likewise peeled off and move in to engage the Re-GZs, _They probably got orders to go after us…_ Sezja shot ahead and barrel rolled to make it a little harder to hit her. She shot past her target, blasting at it at the same time, but the Doga skillfully evaded her shots, constantly dashing in one direction or the other. After she passed the Doga, Sezja switched over to mobile suit mode while the Doga did and about face, now it was Sezja's turn to dance. The Doga began unloading it's beam machine gun at her, but she effortlessly dodge the shots. The two suits were facing each other and Sezja found an opening when the Doga expended it's shots and the rifle was self recharging. _Skilled but not too experienced…_ Sezja dashed forward with her beam saber, but before she could bring the energy sword down to chop it in half, the Doga drew it's beam sword-axe and blocked her sword, _Damn, spoke too soon…_ She dashed back to giver her some space and the two crossed swords several times _Grr, this guy's good…_ Neither seemed to have the upper hand but the Doga slipped up and over extended itself and Sezja took that opening and cut the suit in half.

"Captain, it looks like the pirates are concentrating their fire on us." Dante reported.

"_Anubis _and _Horace_ are moving in to engage the enemy, their requesting support." another bridge crew officer reported.

"Lieutenant La Fllaga, what's Foxhound's status with the Geara Dogas?" Captain Selkis inquired.

"Two down, no losses sir." Dante reported.

"OK order Tiamat squad to return and re arm with bazookas and engage the ships, in the mean time I want our suits to cover the ship while _Anubis _and _Horace _engage the enemy ships."

"Roger sir, I'll relay that order." Dante responded.

Sezja just finished off the Geara Doga when Dante's image came up on the monitor. "The enemy is concentrating their attack on the _Illustrious _all Task Group mobile suits not engaging the enemy fleet is to pull back and cover the ship."

Sezja was about to turn around when she heard someone yell over the comm.

_"Illustrious!" _

She turned and saw a Sturm Dias blast the Illustrious's bridge with it's clay bazooka. "NO Illustrious respond! Repeat Illustrious respond! Dante!" Sezja flung off her helmet as tears ran from her eyes. She wiped away her tears and she looked up at the pirate ships, her eyes blazing. She changed into waverider and shot towards the three pirate ships.

"Wait Sezja, come back!" Tatianna said over the comm but to no reply. "Commander, I'm supporting Lieutenant Fallynna's attack on the enemy ships."

"Roger that Commander, Geddoh and I will pull back and cover the _Illustrious_." Lloyd responded.

Sezja closed in on the first Zanzibar-class, skillfully dodging it's defensive fire. Sezja unloaded her beam cannons into the bridge. As the bridge exploded, she changed into mobile suit mode and drew her beam saber. She skimmed along the hull and made her way to the engines where she began to carve it up with her beam saber. After carving up a significant chunk she moved onto the second Zanzibar-class, saving the Musai-class for last. She closed in on the ship's bridge from a blind spot to ensure the crew would be there for her attack. She dashed in and looked into the bridge and smiled at the sight of the horrified crew, she dashed back to give herself space and cut the bridge open exposing the unprotected crew to vacuum. She then skimmed along the hull towards the engines which she likewise carved up.

As the two ships drifted Sezja set her sights on the Musai-class battleship. She shot towards the bridge, once again looking inside and smiling at the horrified faces of the crew. Though instead of backing up and carving the bridge open, she up the muzzle of her beam rifle up against the view ports of the bridge, some of the crew members paralyzed with terror actually flinched when they heard the tap of the barrel against the view port, and filled the bridge with laser fire. As the bridge exploded she moved beneath the ship where she would have a clear view of both engine sections and shot them both full of holes.

Captain Selkis hated the _Illustrious's_ sub bridge, it was cramped and for some reason it was always hot. It was a good thing he noticed the Sturm Dias heading towards the bridge otherwise he and the rest of the bridge crew would all be dead. "Lieutenant La Fllaga, give me a status report when all your systems are online.

Dante's monitors lit up giving him information about the battlefield. "Whoa… sir all three enemy ships are disabled and immobilized. Wait we're getting an SOS…"

"Put it though, I want you to contact the Task Group and tell them we're back in the fight."

"This is the Federation transport ship _Troy_, we're under attack by pirates, requesting assistance…"

"La Fllaga, who are the closest ones to that ship?"

"Lieutenant Fallynna and Commander Ramius…" Dante replied.

"Ok have those two escort the transport to the base, and I want the rest of the Task Group's mobile suits to finish off what ever pirates don't surrender. We'll deal with those ships later."

Sezja had just torn the head off of a Sturm Dias and had put her beam saber "up the suit's ass" when Dante's image appeared on the monitor _WHAT am I tripping now… _"Sorry to scare you there, Sez…"

"You're alive?"

"Yeah I'm in the sub-bridge, listen there's a transport that's coming in, they need some cover, you and Commander Ramius are to escort it to the base."

Sezja and Tatianna found the transport, they were just past the three pirate ships and it appeared the pirates were too busy with them to bother. "Are you the ones sent to escort us?" the ship's captain asked.

"That's correct." Tatianna responded.

"Keep those pirates off of us, we're carrying a VIP."

"A VIP? Who?" Sezja asked.

"Colonel Rinoa Lockheart… Look just keep those pirates off of us ok?"

"Alright, alright…" Sezja sighed.

Sezja docked her mobile suit in the hangar at the base and when she exited her suit she found Dante waiting for her. "You asshole, don't you ever scare me like that again!" Sezja said as she took him in a tight embrace, tears flowing from her eyes.

"I'm sorry to scare you like that." Dante said before he kissed her on the forehead.

"Just hold me for awhile, let me know your real, you're not some fantasy…" Sezja softly sobbed.

"I'm real Sez… I love you"

Tatianna got out of her suit and flung her helmet off freeing her long hair. She looked over and found Sezja in Dante's arms and decided to leave them be for awhile. She saw the _Troy_ moving into the dock followed by the _Illustrious_ with it's blasted bridge.

Most of the pirate suits had either surrounded, committed suicide, or were killed. The supply base had sent several boarding parties to the pirate ships and now had possession of them. Rinoa Lockheart disembarked from the transport in the supply base's dock. She saw a pair of female pilots and a male officer standing between their Re-GZ units. She approached them and the pilots saluted, she retuned the salute and said "So you were the two escorting us?"

"Yes ma'am." Tatianna replied.

Rinoa looked over at Sezja "You were in Unit Three?"

"Yes I was."

"That was some fancy piloting, I was impressed with they way you took out three battleships by yourself." _There's something about this girl…something familiar…Hmm the eyes, her eyes remind me of someone… _

Sezja smiled and roguishly brushed a lock from her face. "Hmm, is there something wrong?" Sezja asked as she noticed something flash across Rinoa's face.

_Wait a minute, who do I know does that exact same move…_ "Ah it's nothing, I just remembered something, that's all." Rinoa explained. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't get your names. I'm Colonel Rinoa Lockheart, I was the VIP, I'm out here evaluating these outposts, I was also one of Foxhound's commanders back in the day."

"Commander Tatianna Ramius, I'm Foxhound's executive officer."

"Lieutenant Dante La Fllage, I'm the mobile suit coordinator on the _Illustrious_.

"Lieutenant Sezja Fallynna, I'm pilot unit three in Foxhound."

_Fallynna! I know that name… Fallynna, Fallynna… That's right, that's Virgil's last name. This girl, did he ever have a daughter…? _Rinoa made a mental note to ask her about that later.

"Look I'm pretty worn out, it was a long trip and I'm sure you two are faily tired, lets go have some drinks, you've got Colonel Lockheart's permission to worry about you other crap later."

The three of them headed to the lounge and were later joined by the rest of the squad. Rinoa had told them about her time in Foxhound, about how she lead the squadron during the Gryps and Neo Zeon War. Rinoa also told stories of Foxhound's aces, she noticed Sezja perk up a little when she told the story of how Virgil took down several Zeon suits by himself during Operation Stardust. Judging by her mannerisms, Rinoa was becoming more and more convinced that Sezja was Virgil's daughter, illegitimate or not.

It was late and the _Troy's_ crew were retiring to their temporary quarters at the base, while the _Illustrious's_ crew members returned to their ship which was undergoing repairs in the dock. The ship would need to head to one of the Federation's ship yards to completely refurbish the bridge. Sezja was on her way back with the others when Rinoa pulled her aside. "Hey, could you come to my quarters for a little bit, there's something I'd like to ask you?"

"Ok…" Sezja answered, a bit miffed at what Rinoa would want to ask her.

The quarters they gave her were fairly comfortable, it was like a suite at a hotel, there was even a little sitting area. Rinoa had bought a few soft drinks along the way and put them in the small fridge they provided her. She took a seat in one of the plush love seats in the sitting area and motioned Sezja over to have a seat in the couch in front of her. "Have a seat and relax…man, like to treat their VIPs here nicely…"

Sezja unzipped her uniform jacket and took a seat. "So tell me about yourself Sezja, you can just call me Rinoa for now."

Sezja told her about how she was adopted, and her adopted parents raised her as her aunt and uncle. She mentioned about how she had regular contact with her mother and about how her mother was killed before she could tell her anything about her father, when she was just a young child. She explained how she always had a fascination for mechanics and mobile suits and armors, and about how the only reason she joined the Federation was just to pilot mobile suits. She spoke a little about her rather loose relationship with Dante. The more Sezja spoke the more Rinoa suspected her suspicions were true.

"I never thought I would ever meet the daughter of Virgil Fallynna…" Rinoa softly said as she dug though her bag and produced a small photo album.

"What…! You know my father!" Sezja said almost in shock.

Rinoa opened up her album and flipped though a few pages and found the pictures Virgil gave her, twenty years ago _it's been ages my dear friend…_ She found one picture that Virgil had given her, it was of him and Anastasia at a beach, he was holding her in a warm embrace. "Sezja, is this your mother?" Rinoa said as she slid the album across the table.

Sezja looked down and felt her heart stop, the woman in the photo was indeed her mother. She looked at the man holding her. He was the same height as her mother, his skin tone was a little darker than her mother, as was his hair. Like her mother he was wearing all black. "Y…Yeah, that is my mom… Where did you get this?"

"Your father gave it to me, about twenty years ago. You look a lot like your mother, but some of your mannerisms and your eyes, those are definitely from your father, Sezja. Your outgoing nature definitely comes from your mother, but the way you carry yourself, the gestures you make, those came from your father." Rinoa explained.

"Umm, c…can you tell me about him… Is he still alive?"

"Of course, I knew your father very well, we served in Foxhound at the same time. But I'm sorry, Virgil was killed in action during Operation Stardust, he died protecting your mother. The Zeon remnants had attacked a small town near our base. We were outnumbered and the squad commander ordered us to retreat for the mean time and Virgil was covering our retreat. He noticed your mother running though the streets and stayed behind to protect her. He single handedly took out all the Zeon suits by himself, but the last one was able to seriously damage his Gundam and he was seriously injured. Your mother pulled him out of the cockpit and he died in her arms." Rinoa told the story of how they first met, about their time in Foxhound, about how part of Rinoa wanted to be with him and how she grew to love him. "Your father, loved your mother more than anything, and I'm sure if he knew about you, he would have loved you just as much. I know he's watching over you and very proud of you."

Everything that bothered her about her past, all the little pieces she couldn't figure out all fell into place. Now she knew why the Foxhound emblem seemed to be in her mind. "I remember… my mother used to wear a jacket… that had the Foxhound emblem on it. When I received my transfer order, deep down I felt I knew this emblem and it held a special meaning, but I could figure it out. Now all these pieces have all just fell into place… Can, can you tell me about my mother?"

"I'm sorry I can't remember your mother too much, I only met her a few times. But from what I remember you mother was a bit unsure about what she wanted in life, she was attending one of the Federal Universities but didn't really know what she wanted yet. But I do know she loved your father very much. I suppose your mother's story is as tragic as your father's in a way. She didn't realize everything she wanted was right there, until it was dying in her arms…" Rinoa thought back to that last battle. Anastasia pulling Virgil's broken body out of his equally broken Gundam, how she held him as he died of his injuries, and of how she sang his favorite song to him.

Sezja spoke up again and told her about her dream, where she saw her mother running though the ruined city.

"That was the last time your mother and father ever saw each other…" Rinoa simply said.

"Rinoa, can you come to my quarters, there's something there I want to show you?"

"Sure sweetie…"

Sezja lead Rinoa into her quarters aboard the _Illustrious_. "here's what I wanted to show you, I made this Gundam to look like the one in my dream." Sezja said as she handed the Ground Gundam Kai kit to Rinoa.

Rinoa looked it over and felt a flood of old memories hit her _This paint scheme, the Foxhound emblem, the numbers, even the scratches… this looks exactly like Virgil's Gundam…_ "This looks exactly like your father's unit Sezja. Even the pose you had it in, reflects your father."

"Yeah, I can't explain it, but it just felt right to put it in that pose…"

"Well I hate to cut this short, but we should get some sleep, I'll tell you more about your father tomorrow 'kay?"

"Alright then…goodnight Rinoa."

"Good night then Sezja, daughter of Virgil…"

A few moments after Rinoa left Sezja looked at the photographs she left. She couldn't explain how she felt, but she felt _whole_. Then she heard a tapping on the door. She opened the door to find Dante there, she let him in and he reached out and held her in an embrace. "What is it?" she asked.

"I thought I was going to die today… I thought I was going to lose you too…" He softly said.

"Aww, I love you too." Sezja said as she found his lips and kissed him. The held each other tightly as the kissed. "I was scared too that I lost you, I don't know what I do if I did." Sezja looked into his eyes "Let's make love…" she whispered as she lead him to the bed.

Dante awoke and found Sezja curled up in his arms and he started gently petting her. She stirred and looked up at him with a content smile and something else in her expression. "Hmm, you've got quite a glow to you today…"

"Hmm, I'm just really happy right now, just had some good sex, and last night, I found out about my dad from Colonel Lockheart."

"Is that why she was here? I saw her walking down the hall before I came."

"Yeah, back in 0083 she was in my dad's squad and was a close friend of his. Hmm, just let me lie here for a little longer."

xxx

UC 0103

It had been a month since the incident at the supply base and the _Illustrious_ was back at 100 again. In the time it took to repair the ship, the Federation had tracked down the pirate's base. In fact these were the same pirates that the Illustrious and her fleet were tasked to eliminate. Sezja had remained in contact with Rinoa and Rinoa had told her all sorts of stories about her father. However her relationship with Dante continued to hover in a sort of gray area. In fact Rinoa even told her it was starting to mirror the relationship her mother and father had. Rinoa told her to just let him do his thing, he was still young. It was still frustrating her. In the mean time Sezja was giving some serious thought into resigning from the Federal Forces, she was starting to feel like she had nothing else to do there, that her task there was done.

The Federation was now preparing to wipe out this bothersome pirate band that had been harassing the outer edges of the Earth Sphere. They had sent in several scouts and learned that along with pirates there were also a mercenary troop that was hiered by the pirates. The Federation decided to reinforce the 7th Independent Task Group, with the 9th Independent Task Group. The 9th Independent was made up of an Alexandria-class battleship _Schwarzwind _and two Magellan Kai-class battleships _Athena_ and _Hades_. The _Schwarzwind_ was a few years older than the _Illustrious_, the Alexandria-class first went into service during the Gryps War. Despite being a few years older than _Illustrious_ she carried twelve mobile suits as opposed to the _Illustrious's_ eight suits, however she was inferior in terms of firepower. The _Athena_ and _Hades _though were the same age as the Salamis-Kai-classes of the 7th Independent. The two Magellan Kai-classes of the fleet were heavily modified from their original form. Like the Salamis-Kai the bow of these ships were heavily redesigned to carry six mobile suits each. The original Magellan-class was put into service at the same time as the Salamis-class, following the One Year War, they were upgraded with more weapons, and now the few surviving ships of this class were modified to carry mobile suits. The Magellan was larger and packed more firepower than the Salamis. The 9th Independent was exclusively equipped with Jegan mobile suits.

The two fleets were to attack the pirate's asteroid base in a pincer maneuver. The mobile suits would move in to hammer the base's defense and clear the way for the capital ships to pound the base's facilities, the _Illustrious_ was also equipped with nuclear missiles. Then once the defenses were neutralized the would signal one of the nearby Federation bases and several transports would move in to capture the facility. Sezja was on her way to the pilot's locker room but there was something she needed to take care of first and she made her way to Dante's quarters.

Dante was looking through some files before he reported to the bridge, _This is going to be one very stressful day…_ There was a knock at his door and he opened it to find Sezja on the other side. "Sez… I thought you were in the hangar…"

"I was on my way there, but there was something I needed to take care of first. I need to know, is that young man stationed on the Illustrious, is he a lover?" Sezja said looking him in the eye.

"I was on my way there, but there was something I needed to take care of first. I need to know, is that young man stationed on the , is he a lover?" Sezja said looking him in the eye. 

"I… Sez…what do you mean?" Dante stammered, completely taken aback by this.

"Do you want to be with me Dante? We've been doing this dance and having sex for long enough, I need to know, are you my lover, are you… my boyfriend? I need to know this, I might die and I don't want to die without this cleared up… My father died like that…"

"Well uhh… Sez I love you very much, I know I've proven that. I want to be with you but there's a part of me that's keeping me from going all the way. I don't know what it is, I mean I'm happy when I'm with you, but I just don't want to commit to you right now. Or commit to anyone really…" Dante explained.

Sezja put her hand on his shoulder and with tender eyes looked into his, "I understand, don't worry I'll still love you and I guess I'll move on then."

Dante moved to kiss her on the lips but she drew back a little, "No we probably shouldn't… I just had to know how you really felt, my father died without knowing how my mother felt about him until the last moment…"

"How… how did he die? If you don't mind me asking…"

"It was during Operation Stardust, my father was assigned to Foxhound. He was engaging Zeon forces in a small town, the team got a withdrawal order, but my father found my mother there in the city and he stayed to protect her. He took out the remaining Zeon suits by himself, before one of them critically damaged his Ground Gundam Kai before it died. There was an explosion in the Gundam and it severely wounded him, my mother held him as he was dying and she finally told him how she felt about him right before he died." Sezja explained "I didn't… I didn't want the same thing, I didn't want you or me to get killed with out knowing what was in your heart."

Dante simply took Sezja into a warm embrace, "Look don't even think about dying on me Sez, you'll come back alive from this, you're an ace just like your father was."

Captain Selkis went over the plan in his head one last time, he was the overall commander of this operation. His fleet was in position and the _Schwarzwind_ should be in position soon if it wasn't already. _Captain Almasy is a competent commander, I can count on her. _Captain Quistis Almasy had been a part of Londo Bell during the Second Neo Zeon War and had served under the legendary Captain Bright Noa. Selkis knew he could count on her to carry out her part, she certainly wasn't one of the many incompetents that were in command positions within the Federation. _With the way corruption is becoming rampant in the Federation, it's hardly a surprise that pirate groups like this have been able to operate as long as they could. Then we have to work with warships almost forty years old. The Federation is in some serious need of reform…_

"Captain, message from the _Schwarzwind_ Captain Almasy reports that her fleet is in position and ready when we are." Dante reported.

Captain Selkis looked over at the asteroid base, there were three Salamis Kai-class cruisers and two Musai-class battleships. _Probably salvaged them from the debris belt or the Shoal Zone… Either way won't change the outcome of this battle…_ "Commence Operation Stonecutter." Selkis ordered.

Both fleets began launching their mobile suits and Sezja loaded her now upgraded Re-GZ onto the _Illustrious's_ catapult. This upgraded version now had a considerable increase in it's overall performance, and was referred to as an Re-GZ Custom. "Foxhound Zero Three, launching."

"Roger that Foxhound Zero Three… Come back alive Sez." Dante responded.

"Don't worry, I will…" Sezja said as the catapult hurled her mobile suit into space. She fell in formation with the rest of the squad. The base had deployed their mobile suits and it was a rag-tag mix of various Federation and Zeon suits. There were GM IIIs here and there, a few Bawoo suits _I bet those are the mercenaries they're probably going to be trouble…_ but the bulk of the suits were made up of old GM IIs and Zaku IIs. _This shouldn't be too hard…_

"All mobile suits, you are to engage the enemy suits and keep them off the battleships while they move in to destroy the base. At the moment it is unclear whether or not the _Illustrious_ will deploy it's nuclear missiles. Foxhound, Tiamat, Captain Selkis is ordering you people to prioritize the mercenaries. Good Luck everyone." Dante announced over the comm line.

"OK we don't know how well these mercenaries can fight, so we attack them as a team, no single ship attacks. Stay in formation and engage the enemy suits in pairs." Lloyd commanded.

"Alright Sezja, you ready for this?" Tatianna asked.

"Question is, are _they_ ready…" Sezja said with a smile.

"Well lets find out…" Tatianna said and she moved in to engage a Bawoo. "Careful Sezja these suits can break off into two piece and could give us some trouble if the pilots know what they're doing." Tatianna swooped in to attack one Bawoo while Sezja moved in to attack it's wingman. The Bawoo fired it's beam rifle at her and what ever shots she couldn't block she dodged with her shield. She danced around firing back and the Bawoo likewise evaded her shots, she moved in close and drew her beam saber and moved in to slice it in half, but before she could the Bawoo separated at the waist. _SHIT!_

"I told you to be careful!" Tatianna said as she grabbed the leg section of the Bawoo she was fighting, which had likewise separated, and smashed the upper section where the cockpit was crushing the pilot.

Sezja evaded the attacks of both units for a few seconds, until anger drove her to hurl her beam saber at the upper section like a javelin. The pilot clearly didn't expect this and the saber buried itself into the cockpit, Sezja moved in to retrieve her sword. With the upper half destroyed the lower AI controlled half ceased functioning.

"_Illustrious_ can you give me a number on the Bawoos out there?" Sezja asked.

"There are about eighteen left, though the two elite squads from the 9th are moving in to assist?" Dante responded

_Hmm, four Re-GZs Customs, four upgraded GM IIIs, and eight upgraded Jegans… _Sezja and Tatianna continued to hunt down the Bawoos and the battle was getting more and more intense, as the base continued to launch it's obsolete mobile suits to replace the ones the Federation was destroying. Foxhound was holding it's own in this blizzard of a melee quite well though several of the Jegan squads were suffering losses. Sezja and Tatianna had gotten separated from the other two and were right in the middle surrounded by enemy units, they stood back to back covering each other. _Damn these suits might be outdated but there are a lot of them…_ Sezja looked up to see a Bawoo with it's beam saber drawn dashing at her from above to slice her Re-GZ apart. _Aw SHIT… I'm sorry Dante… _

Just then there was an explosion above her. "Hey you two all right!" called a familiar voice.

"Richter! Is that you!" Sezja asked. And she noticed a black and purple Jegan A Type giving her a salute. This was an advanced version that was faster and more agile than the standard Jegan.

"Sure is, Razgriz got transferred to the _Schwarzwind_ right before the attack. We have the same mission as you guys." Richter responded.

The Federal Forces continued to gain ground and the elite mobile suit squads of both fleets systematically hunted down the Bawoo mercenaries and soon the last one was destroyed. Captain Selkis read the status repot from the _Schwarzwind, _he was quite pleased until he received a transmission from the _Groznygrad. "Illustrious _we have taken heavy damage, must abandon ship, attacked by Geara Doga Kais." As soon as he received that message he received another similar message from the _California. _"I want the _Anubis _to pick up the life boats from the _Groznygrad _and _California_." Selkis looked over at the holographic battle display in the center of the bridge. It was a brand new system that was installed with the new bridge. _Hmm, if we fire one of our nukes here…_ "I want our nuclear missiles ready, I want one missile fired here…" He pointed to an area of space near the pirate ships, filled mostly with enemy suits. "One of our smaller tactical nukes here should wipe out nearly all of them. Then we can proceed through this corridor and attack the base."

"WHAT, WE'RE DEPLOYING NUKES!" Sezja said in total disbelief.

"That's what I said now get out of that area NOW!" Dante replied, though just then Captain Selkis went on the comm. "Foxhound, there's a squad of Geara Doga Kais equipped with bazookas, they've already taken out the _Groznygrad_ and _California_ go and deal with them."

The squad switched into their waverider modes and regrouped near the _Illustrious. _"_Illustrious_ can you give us the location of those Geara Dogas?" Lloyd asked.

"They apprear to be moving in on the _Anbuis_ while it's picking up survivors, you'd better hurry." Dante replied.

In their waverider mode Foxhound shot through the battlefield faster than anything else and made their way to the _Anubis._ "I've got them, there's four of them, two with heavy bazookas and two with what looks like a big custom beam cannon." Tatianna reported. Just as Tatianna said there was a large brilliant flash behind them. _I can't believe Captain Selkis actually deployed one of those nukes… _she thought.

Captain Selkis and the rest of the bridge crew shielded their eyes as the nuclear missile detonated right in the middle of the enemy's position. "Report…" he said.

"They've lost their three Salamis cruisers and about eighty percent of their mobile suits." Dante responded.

"What is the situation of the_ Anubis?"_

"They're currently picking up the survivors from the _Groznygrad_, Foxhound is providing cover and engaging the enemy's elite squad."

"OK I want all ships to move into the blast area and secure the base, I want our mobile suits to enter their docks and destroy anything that looks like they could fight us with, then I want our marines to secure the dock area while we call in the transports. You know what, order the _Schwarzwind_ and _Athena_ to engage those Musai-classes, don't let any of them escape."

_Damn these guys are fast too…_ Sezja was chasing after one of the Geara Doga Kais, this was far from a standard Doga. It had a custom backpack with two large boosters making it almost as fast as a standard Re-GZ in waverider mode and the giant beam cannon it carried was probably salvaged from a battleship. It was a interesting set up with that cannon, obviously it wouldn't have too many shots and it was big, so the pirates had made a sort of shield-cannon with it and it was carried on the left hand while the right hand carried a beam machine gun. The suit had dashed forward by a piece of wreakage from the _Grozneygrad_ and fired back at her with the beam machine gun. Sezja danced her waverider around the beams and charged at it firing her own guns forcing it to take cover behind the wreckage. She pulled up, which would put her above the cowering Doga and switched to mobile suit mode, then she dived down and stomped right on it's head crushing it's main sensors, she jumped up off the crushed head, somersaulted her suit and drew her beam saber at the same time then dove head first onto the dazed Doga and sliced it in half right down the middle.

"Just killed the last one, you're all clear _Anubis_." Tatianna reported.

"Roger that, thanks for the cover Foxhound." Captain Mustafa of the _Anubis_ responded.

"_Illustrious, _we've eliminated all the Geara Dogas, orders?" Lloyd requested.

"Just mop up the rest of the suits, the nuclear missile wiped most of them out already." Dante replied.

The Federal fleet pushed forward and it didn't take too long to secure the asteroid base. While the _Illustrious_ secured the base the _Schwarzwind_ and _Athena_ quickly caught up to the fleeing Musai battleships and mad quick work of them. When it pulled into the main dock the _Illustrious_ encountered little resistance, and neither did the other ships that landed in the various docks. The Federation troop transports came in and without trouble and the Federation quickly seized control of the facility.

UC 0104

Following Operation Stonecutter the 7th Independent Task Group and the 9th Independent Task Group were disbanded and re-integrated into their respective Fleets. A few months would go by before Dante received a transfer from the _Illustrious_ to the Federation's busy Moon Base and Sezja received her discharge papers. Rinoa had pulled some strings and through a loophole Sezja was able to keep her Re-GZ Custom. Sezja and Dante were once again at the Von Braun Space Port where they had first met. Dante decided he wasn't ready for a committed relationship with Sezja and the two agreed to go their ways for the time being.

"So I guess the place we met is the place we split up…" Sezja said.

"Yeah, so what are you going to do?" Dante asked.

"Well I'm supposed to meet Colonel Lockheart here and head down to Earth with her, then I'll just figure it out from there." Sezja responded.

"Well there's a cab I'm supposed to meet soon, so I have to go…" Dante reluctantly said. He turned and took a few steps before he heard Sezja shout his name. He turned and found Sezja running towards him. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "Where ever you go… just remember… I'll always love you…" she sobbed.

"Sez…" Dante gently said as he gently put the edge of his hand under her chin and gently tilted her head up to look at him. "Sez I love you too, where ever you go I'll love you too." He said and the two shared one last passionate kiss. Dante slowly pulled away, and gently wiped away her tears. "You take care of yourself ok. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

Sezja nodded and gave him one last embrace. "You take care of yourself too."

And the two went their separate ways, not knowing where their paths would take them.

xxx

It was a misty morning, Sezja Fallynna took a deep breath of the morning air as she stepped out of her car. In her hand was a well built Ground Gundam Kai and exact copy of the one she had, _hmm it's a little chilly,_ she thought as she pulled the Federal Forces jacket she wore tighter around her.

"I haven't been here in a while, but I believe it's this way…" Rinoa said leading Sezja though the cemetery. The cemetery was in a poor state with overgrown weeds here and there. Though it wasn't a surprise since the town nearby had become a ghost town over the years. The constant fighting in the area had driven out the residents years ago. Rinoa lead her to a gated area of the cemetery, a rusted sign said that it was set aside for Federal soldiers who died in battle in that area. Rinoa looked around a little more before she found it "Ah there you are."

They stood before a tombstone that was like all the others, surrounded by weeds. Rinoa saluted and said "Hey, it's me, sorry I haven't been around in a while. I brought someone here with me…"

Sezja knelt down and leaned forward, she couldn't explain the feelings she had when she placed her hand on the top of the tombstone. _Dad…_ She traced the engraving of the Gundam with her fingers and could almost feel the connection there, as if Virgil was reaching out to touch the hand of the daughter he never knew. It wasn't just a connection of Father and Daughter, but also of fellow mobile suit pilots. Sezja stood up and looked over the grave.

"Let's clean this up a little." She said.

"I had a feeling the cemetery might look like this, I brought some gardening tools with me in the car." Rinoa said.

The two of them worked together cleaning up the grave when hidden in a particularly thick patch of grass in front of the tombstone, Sezja found a small old and weather beaten photo album. Inside Sezja found various photos of her parents, almost as if Anastasia knew Sezja would go there some dayand left the album there for her to find. There was also a yin yang pendant on a chain. "What's this…?"

"Hmmm…" Rinoa thought back and remembered something. "Your parents, they had a tattoo on the insides of their little fingers, the each had half a yin yang symbol, so when they hooked their fingers together, it would form a complete symbol." Sezja thought a little while and put the necklace on, and they continues cleaning up the grave site. When it was all fixed up Sezja set the Gundam kit down at the base of the tombstone and Rinoa laid down a bouquet of black roses.

Sezja and Rinoa looked over at the grave and Sezja could feel a warm breeze blowing around her, now she felt she could finally close this chapter of her life. For the first time in her life she didn't feel bothered by her past and could completely look forward to the future.


End file.
